This Week's Forgotten Gem of the '80s - Phil Lynott's "Old Town"
Man, how I miss Phil Lynott. So much so that just after Christmas last year I ordered a tee shirt from England featuring the Irish rocker's instantly recognizable countenance and 'fro, and the somewhat exorbitant price I paid for it will always seem worth it to me. I can't imagine the day I'm not beaming with pride to wear it. Furthermore, I visited Ireland twice at the beginning of this decade, and practically the only regret I have about those wondrous trips is that it was a few years before Lynott was memorialized on the streets of Dublin in the form of a life-size statue. 'Twill be a spotlighted portion of my itinerary if I ever get to go back, I can tell you that much.Anyway, I fully realize that Lynott registers far more as a '70s artist (primarily through his brilliant work as leader of Thin Lizzy) than as an '80s one, but he did maintain a pretty active and varied career until his untimely death just after the new year in 1986. For an idea of just how talented and eclectic this guy was, take another listen to 1982's "Old Town", one of Lynott's most well-known solo efforts. Though keyboard-laden and a significant departure from the heavy rock he was making with the later lineup of Lizzy, the rueful romantic ballad still sounds nothing like any of the music being released during the early MTV era. Of course, that's a wonderful thing that many of us in the States didn't get to experience the first time around. We'll always miss you, Phil, a true legend of rock no matter what decade.
Album Cover Image Courtesy of Ozit Records
Comments
Indeed Steve, Lizzy were an extremely underrated band.
I was fortunate enough, from ‘79 – ‘83 to catch Lizzy live about 8 times, during UK tours.
I always feel bad that I never saw the classic line up which was Lynott, Robertson, Gorham & Downey, but then many folks seem envious that I got to see Gary Moore play with Lizzy on the Black Rose tour!
Phil was indeed a talent & I got to meet him on about 3 of the occasions that I saw Lizzy live.
He loved the fans & adoration, no doubting it & was deeply saddened when the other guys in the band said no more to doing Lizzy …
His drug taking had got way out of control at the end, as Scott Gorham has often told & he had said to Phil that he couldn’t take the abuse on his body anymore & so had to quit Lizzy. It seemed the others at the time agreed.
Interesting note about Old Town, Phil’s Mum Philomena said in an interview that she felt that perhaps it was Phil’s cry for help, with his words, “This boy is cracking, this boy has broke down.”
She said, “Sadly, none of us realised it, when we should’ve done.”
How true …
Did you also know that Irish family band The Corrs did a great version of covering Old Town too?
All the best,
Alun